SOMERSWORTH — Somersworth Housing Authority Director Beth Salinger has been placed on a paid leave of absence following a unanimous vote by the Board of Commissioners Thursday evening.

Also Thursday, Commissioner Joan Lynch resigned from the board due to personal reasons. It’s now up to Mayor Matthew Spencer to appoint a new individual to fill the vacant position.

“I’ll be conducting interviews and hopefully will have the spot filled by December 10,” Spencer said Monday. He couldn’t provide further information regarding Lynch’s decision to resign or the board’s decision to place Salinger on a leave of absence.

SHA Board Chairman Robert Crichton was also unable to elaborate on the recent developments, calling them “internal personnel issues.” He declined to comment when asked to address any legal developments occurring with the Housing Authority.

These recent changes are part of a larger reshuffling effort still under way at the SHA. Last month, Chairman Constance Margowski resigned and Marty Dumont was appointed by the mayor to fill the board’s empty seat.

“I think we need to continue to move forward from this difficult time,” Dumont said, referencing a six-year period during which nearly $1 million was stolen by the Housing Authority’s former fiscal director, Lisa Reid. “I think we’ve cleared the hurdle. We have so many great people and great employees with the Housing Authority — we need to keep pushing forward.”

Approximately $920,000 was stolen by the SHA’s former fiscal director during the time span.

An October report — conducted by the firm Hurley, O’Neill & Company of Quincy, Mass. — ultimately cited a lack of internal controls that could have prevented the SHA’s former fiscal director from stealing the funds.

“Management and the Board of Commissioners have not operated a control environment conducive to the prevention and detection of fraud and illegal acts as evidenced by fraud perpetrated by a former employee,” one section of the report reads.

“The employee relied on the failures of management and the Board of Commissioners to implement effective controls,” another section of the Oct. 25 report states. “Proper segregation of duties in various controls activities would have reduced or eliminated the opportunity to commit fraud and basic monitoring procedures would have detected it.”

On Dec. 6, 2011, Reid reportedly admitted to Salinger she had stolen the funds amid personal financial troubles. Somersworth police approached Reid later that same day, but she requested a lawyer, effectively shutting down communication with law enforcement.

Reid was found dead the next morning from a drug overdose in an apparent suicide.

Seeking to recoup its losses, SHA filed suit in January against Reid’s husband, Scott Reid, who now controls his late wife’s assets. SHA is asking a superior court judge to put a temporary freeze on those assets, which include property, vehicles, and income from the couple’s furniture store in Rochester.

The Housing Authority, through its attorney, contends several assets now under Scott Reid’s control were potentially purchased with funds stolen from the SHA. Those assets include time shares and/or condominiums in Florida, a Jeep, a recreational vehicle, and the money used to lease space for the couple’s furniture store.